Don't overlook that Derek Copeland is large and very heavy.

C. of G. position makes a lot of difference to the feel and stability of any
glider.

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
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"Derek Copeland"
wrote in message ...

At various times I have owned a Cirrus 75 and a Nimbus
2, both with all flying tailplanes. Interestingly we
once compared the Nimbus 2 tailplane to that belonging
to an adjacent Standard Cirrus in the workshop during
a C of A and found they were exactly the same. The
Nimbus has a much longer tail boom though. The tailplane
usually either goes on properly, or jams in the up
position if you fail to engage the elevator drive hook,
so it is obvious if you have got it wrong. As for all
types a positive control check is recommended before
flight.

The Nimbus was definitely the twitchier of the two
types as it seemed to suffer from aero-elasticity,
i.e. if you pulled back on the stick the wings bent
up first and then the fuselage followed about a second
later. Nevertheless I found it quite easy to fly and
even did some cloud climbs in it.

By comparison the Standard Cirrus was very easy to
fly, subject to the usual provisos for all-flying tailplanes.
Don't be put off this lovely glider by all the scare
stories!

Derek Copeland
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